Wizened
<--- back to Seemings Description The Wizened may well be the most unfortunate of changelings, for the Wizened could be anyone at all. Many were taken for no reason and through no fault of their own, simply finding themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unluckier still are those who came to the Others' attention because they encountered one who appeared to be in trouble – like the man who found a little person under a rock and set him free, only to be hounded to death for his presumption that the Fae might need his help. Despite their seeming haplessness, it takes someone as cunning and ingenious as the Fae themselves to escape from the Little People, and so Wizened changelings who return are most often those people who were already nimble of hand and quick of wit. The Wizened bring back disjointed memories of random cruelties, of being the butt of tricks and experiments that seemed hilarious to the Fae, even if they couldn't appeal to any human sense of humor. Many dimly recall trying to escape over and over again, each time being outwitted by their spiteful captors, perhaps at times being allowed to think they had escaped before the fact that they were still in Faerie all along was revealed. Appearance While every one of the Wizened is, in some way, smaller than she was when she was taken, they bear the features of the "Little People" in all their infinite variety. Being small often means being short — but not always. Some Wizened are tall and impossibly thin. Some aren't physically smaller than anyone else, but somehow seem smaller, as if they are insubstantial or somehow not quite there. Wizened captured in the West often have pointed ears, deeply lined faces, strangely-shaped noses and gimlet eyes. Often, a Wizened changeling's skin is richly colored, being bright green, red or blue, or the deep rich color and texture of polished mahogany. Their fingers are nimble and bony, and their fingernails are long and sometimes twisted. Some have hunch backs and prominent warts. Some have animal feet. Even to those who can't perceive their Seemings, the Wizened still seem small; that look of somehow not always being present stays with them. Contracts The Wizened gain an affinity with the Artifice Contracts, allowing them to repair, improve, and wreck crafted works. Kiths :*''Artist'': The Wizened who create startling works of art and craft: seamsters, sculptors, painters and builders. :*''Author:'' Wizened who are adept at the written word. :*''Brewer:'' Changelings who spent their durance in Faerie learning how to create mind-bendingly potent drinks or peculiar alchemies. Due to long exposure and gradual immunity, a Brewer gains resistance to poisons or intoxication. :*''Chatelaine:'' Preternaturally skilled manservants, organizers and house-managers. :*''Chirurgeon:'' Changelings who master surgery and pharmacy, sometimes from altruism, and sometimes simply because they can, ranging from scary back-street surgeons to strangely alien experimenters. :*''Drudge:'' Brownies and housekeepers. :*''Gameplayer:'' Adept at riddles and games. :*''Miner:'' Kobolds and other tunneling sorts. :*''Oracle:'' Changelings who, like many imps and goblins, can, in a limited way, see the future. :*''Smith:'' Changelings who were forced to labor under the watchful eye of the most unimpeachable faerie blacksmiths, tinkers and toolmakers. :*''Soldier:'' Members of the vast goblin hosts of the Fae, the Soldiers fought strange, inconclusive battles and now find the fighting comes easier to them. :*''Woodwalker:'' The Wizened who, like their captors, live within and protect the wilds, sometimes jealously, sometimes violently. See Also For a List of Wizened see Wizened. Category:Seeming